Hammer



' (No Model.)

' F. G. STARK.

' HAMMER.

No. 418,539. Patented Dec. 31, 1889.

- fittest: jymtm 4 J.@ @QMM m UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK e.-s'rARK, 0E MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

HAMMER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 418,539, dated December 31 1889.

V Application filed (Tuly 20, 1839, Serial No. 318,109. I (No model.) 7

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FREDERICK G. STARK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Manchester, in the county of I-Iillsborough and State of New Hampshire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hammers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to makeand use the same. I This invention relates to an improvement in hammers for driving nails, &c., the object thereof being to so construct the hammer that a nail may be held by the head thereof to assist in driving it in places where it is impossible and extremely inconvenient to hold the nail with the hand; and the invention consists, essentially, in the magnetic hammer-head provided with certain grooves to receive the nail-shank, and provided with a bearing for its head, so as to readily accomplish the object just specified, all substantially as will be hereinafter described, and then more particularly pointed out in the annexed claim.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure 1 is a reverse plan view of the head of the hammer removed from its handle. Fig. 2 is a cross-section of the same, showing one of the grooveswith which I provide it; Fig. 3 is an outline elevational view of the hammer, a nail carried by the head.

thereof, and a Wall or object into which the nail is being driven, said View delineating the mode of using my improved hammer.

Like letters of reference denote corresponding parts throughout the different figures.

A denotes the head of any ordinary hammer havingthe usual eye a, adapt-ed to receive the end of the handle B, and having also the usual claw b, and the shank o, the end of which forms the driving-face of the hammer.

In carrying my invention into practical eifect I take any kind of an ordinary hammer-head like the one just described, or one of any similar pattern, and first I thoroughly lnagnetize the end or shank portion a, which has the driving-face. This may be magnetized in any usual and desirable manner, the

magnetic quality thereof being powerful enough to enable the head to pick up any ordinary nail with which it might come into proximity.

The under side of the head of the hammer is providedwith alongitudinal groove d, running from the face of the head to apoint near the eye a, this groove being of a sufficient size and depth to receive enough of the shank of any ordinary nail to keep said nail in position, s9 that when the nail is located in the groove the magnetic attraction of the head may draw the nail into the groove d and locate it longitudinally therein with its point projecting beyond the face of the head, in the manner shown in Fig. 3, and the magnetic attraction will serve to hold the nail in its position. The hammer can then be lifted and the nail will not fall'away from the head.

The head is not only'provided with the longitudinal groove d, but also with several parallel transverse grooves e, e, e", and a I have thus shown four of them by Way of example only. There may be any number of them. These transverse grooves are so formed that their inner sidesthat is to say, their walls, which are nearest to the eye a.-may form bearings against which the head of the nail may be firmly situated, as indicated in Fig. 3. The other sides of the grooves slope and are inclined outwardly. The purpose of having several transverse grooves is to accommodate nails of different lengths and sizes. Thus a short nail might have its head bearing against the side of the groove 6, while a large nail might be required to be held so as to have its head against the wall of the groove 6 The mode of using my improved hammer will be evident from the foregoing. When a nail has been located in the longitudinal groove d with its head against one of the bearing-surfaces, the user of the hammer can, by grasping the handle B, start the nail into the object into which he desires to drive the same by simply giving a quick, sharp blow of the hammer. He can then disengage the hammer from the nail and continue the driving of the latter by using the face of the hammer. In this way nails can be driven in many places which otherwise could not be reached, for it is evident that with this hammer the head not only holds but drives the nail, and, therefore, a nail can be driven at any point to which the user can lift the head of the hammer. \Vith the ordinary hammer it is impossible to drive higher than a person can reach with his hand, for he must hold the nail with one hand and drive with the other; but with my improved hammer the length of the arm is supplemented by the length of the hammer, and the consequent advantage is derived.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- FREDERICK G. STARK.

Witnesses:

J ESSE B. PATTEE, B. P. OILLEY. 

